'Nashville' Recap: Juliette Meets Strong Competition From Layla; Rayna Says Goodbye To Deacon

Nashville saw both country queens Rayna and Juliette in danger after a record label shake up and the arrival of new aspiring singer Layla Grant in “Never No More.”

At a party thrown by new Edgehill record label head Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson), Layla Grant (Aubrey Peeples), a product of a reality television show singing competition, steals the spotlight from Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) when her single eclipses Juliette’s on the charts, stealing the number one spot right out from under one of her ‘idols.’

Layla is looking to get her hands on all of Juliette’s young tween/teenage fans at a time when Juliette herself is looking to move away from her tweeny-pop image. Jeff is firmly against the idea: tweens are where the money is, after all. Juliette has an unexpected ally in her hatred for Layla: Rayna (Connie Britton) is also less than impressed with Layla and has no love for Jeff. Rayna is even considering leaving Edgehill for good.

In an effort to rebrand herself and get away from Rayna’s undying legacy, Juliette disappears to Alabama and films a CMT special in the trailer park where she grew up. Juliette leans on her lead guitarist and confidante, Avery (Jonathan Jackson).

Rayna and Deacon (Charles Esten) return to the scene of their near-fatal car crash. Deacon is a mess, hopeless and alone, he tells Rayna that he needs her, but she doesn’t want to hear it. For her, the crash was it, the end, and she tells Deacon that they bring each other too much pain. Broken, Deacon swears he will never touch a guitar again and gets ready to sell his entire collection, something Scarlett (Clare Bowen) strongly, and vocally, objects to. She yells at him, giving him a piece of her mind, and drives him to saw off his own cast and pick up his favorite guitar.

At home, Rayna has more drama waiting for her. She informs her husband, Teddy (Eric Close) that she still wants him to move out and go ahead with their divorce. On top of that, Rayna is still having trouble getting her eldest daughter, Maddie (Lennon Stella), to talk to her, and when they finally confront each other, Maddie does not seem ready to forgive her mother for lying to her about the identity of her biological father.

Meanwhile, Will (Chris Carmack) goes behind Rayna’s back and signs with Jeff despite his agreement with Rayna’s Highway 65 label. Rayna is furious when she finds out that Jeff went behind her back and stole Will from her – she vows to get even. Will second guesses his decision when he gets a visit from Jeff’s PR employee, Brent (Derek Krantz), who also happens to be the guy Will hooked up with in the season opener.

Nashville airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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